Faloja, one of the second-tier sites that was closed down two weeks ago, is back up.  In announcing its return, the administrators acknowledged that it had fallen victim to the same wave of closures that shut down the top-tier sites in September.  It also announced that several of these sites will be back online shortly.

Even more significant is the return of Tawhed.ws.  For those of you who have browsed the Atlas before, you know that this is the main online library of Jihadi literature.  Although a static site, it was shut down in June when the first wave of attacks was launched on the top-tier discussion forums.  Prior to that, you could only access it through a proxy if you live in the U.S. (although now it seems that a proxy is not necessary).

Tawhed.ws is affiliated with Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, Zarqawi’s spiritual mentor who was in a Jordanian prison until recently.    Jihadis online have been waiting for Maqdisi to make a statement but he’s been pretty quiet so far.  I’m not sure why he’s been given his electronic platform back, but perhaps a “reconsideration” of jihad is coming.